Council asks for more time on short-term rental ordinance

The city will hold a public forum to discuss a proposed ordinance that would regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb.
Megan Boehnke/USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE

A crowd gathered Tuesday, July 18 2017 in anticipation of the Knoxville City Council's vote on the city's proposed short-term rental ordinance. The Council voted unanimously to postpone the vote 90 days.(Photo: Tyler Whetstone/USA Today Network-Tennessee)

City residents, those against short-term rentals altogether and those currently housing guests in their spare bedrooms tonight, will have to wait another 90 days before the Knoxville City Council will give clarity in the form of a vote on mayor’s proposed short-term rental ordinance.

Councilman George Wallace proposed to postpone the Council’s much-anticipated vote Tuesday night, but any of the other eight members would have likely done the same thing. The postponement was unanimously passed – moved to the Oct. 24 Council meeting.

Councilman Nick Pavlis said the move is not a “kick the can down the road measure.”

“We want to make sure we get it right,” he said. “It’s a complex issue. I still think there are opinions all over the board and that tells me that we’re not ready to actually bring it forward and finalize what we’re doing.”

Vice Mayor Duane Grieve, one of five councilmembers who will be rolling off Council this winter, promised a vote will be held on the proposal before their term is up.

“It’s close to eight years now that I’ve been on Council and I think probably that this issue affects more people in the city than any other issue that we’ve dealt with,” he said.

Several councilmembers said they would like more workshops, time set aside to hear from constituents, over the 90 day break. After the meeting Wallace said it’s possible the 90 days is shortened and Council votes on it sooner.

Carol Moore is against the ordinance. She came to the meeting Tuesday expecting a vote from Council, but said she was OK that no decision was made.

“I hope that means they didn’t have the votes to pass it and I hope they heard from citizens. All of our neighborhoods have been bombarding them with emails and I hope they’re paying attention to that.”

Brian Pittman also came to Tuesday’s meeting looking for a vote, but, like Moore, said more time for discussion is a good thing. He said he welcomes a workshop and that he’d like to see a vote in favor of the ordinance with some tweaks that would allow for non-owner occupied rentals.

What’s been proposed?

City leaders have spent nearly a year crafting the ordinance and speaking to leaders in other cities to see what works and what doesn’t. Short-term rentals have not been permitted in Knoxville, although the city hasn’t pursued violators.

Their proposed ordinance would allow the short-term rentals, but restrict them — by allowing them only in owner-occupied homes in residential zones, meaning people who don’t reside at the property they rent cannot operate in residential zones, only in mixed-use zones like those downtown and along Cumberland Avenue.

There is wiggle room in the ordinance regarding if the owner has to be there while it is being rented (they don’t) and how the city will determine whether someone is maintaining their residence at the home.